Mobiles Outnumber Humans in 2012

According to the latest analysis of global mobile data by Cisco, mobile devices will outnumber humans this year. By 2016 there will be 10 billion mobile connected devices around the world which will translate into networks carrying 130 exabytes of data each year, equivalent to 33 billion DVDs. “By 2016, 60% of mobile users – three billion people worldwide – will belong to the Gigabyte Club, each generating more than one gigabyte of mobile data traffic per month,” said Suraj Shetty, vice-president of products and solutions at Cisco.

The data consumption is pushed by various factors. One is the increase in the usage of tablet devices which consume even more data than smartphones. According to Cisco, tablet use exploded in 2011 – tripling to 34 million devices, each of which is generating over three times more traffic than smartphones. By 2016 it predicts that tablets will account for more than 10% of global mobile traffic.

The second factor is the availability of faster networks like 4G, which accounts for 6% of mobile data traffic. Using mobile data on a 4G connection generates 28% more traffic than a non-4G connection, according to Cisco’s report. A faster network allows for more video streaming, which results into more traffic.

Recently, Android has reached iPhone level in terms of its consumption of bandwidth, mainly in the US and Western Europe. As speeds and quality increase, it is more tempting for users to start watching video on mobiles.